Food of Vanuatu: Training edition

The Bislama word for "food" and "meal" and "to eat" is kakae. 

A lot of you have been wondering: what have I been eating in Vanuatu? Well, lucky for you I've been taking lots of photos of food and I'm here to share anything and everything we consumed on a daily basis during training.

our final kakae in Epau

Our days started simple, but delicious. To drink, it was usually boiled water, sometimes just plain, or sometimes with Milo (a vitamin-enriched chocolate drink, like Ovaltine), sometimes with fresh aranis leaves that gave it a slight citrus taste, and sometimes with black tea or instant coffee (that was pre-mixed with sugar and milk). If the tea was already prepared in the kettle, it most likely was loaded with sugar already. 

kato and breakfast crackers

To eat, it was usually grapefruit or papaya slices or boiled sweet potatoes or fried bananas, accompanied by some sort of starch. There were usually breakfast crackers, which look like saltines but are actually heartier, much like a watercress cracker. They are pretty flavorless but usually accompanied by jam, peanut butter, butter, or chocolate spread (much like Nutella). I never did this, but I did see my host family in Epau break them up and put them in tea to eat them with a spoon as if it were cereal. Often, if there was someone in the neighborhood who made fresh bread (like Devon's family did in Epau), you'd get slices of that with some peanut butter. 

Or, there was kato...the best thing to ever grace a breakfast plate. My host mom in Pele made the best kato in the world. It's a fried doughnut that is slightly sweet but plain otherwise. I would dip mine in sugar, and after a day of that, my host family followed suit at every single breakfast. Santi loved my mama's kato so much that he swore he'd get a figure-8 tattoo by the end of service. Everyone back home would think that it was for "infinity" but he'd know that it was for the sweet, fried, dough-y goodness of kato. 

My Pele host mama gave Santi "kato to go" at our final departure from the island. He strapped it to his chest so it'd be readily available for snacking. 

Every day for lunch, each of the mamas would cook something at home and bring it to the nakamal where we held class. It was potluck style, and even though the mamas most likely didn't plan out who would bring what, there was always quite a variety. Therefore, every day at lunch was a feast, and it was like being in the cafeteria in college once again: do I eat a well-balanced meal, or do I just eat all the starches that my watering mouth craves?

When it came time to eat lunch, each of our host moms would approach us, or us them, to give us a glass, a plate, a fork and a cloth napkin before we dug into the feast. Once, my host mom in Epau gave me a plate with half of a small lobster on top of it...just for me. Sometimes mamas did this to give us our own special portion of something they didn't want to share with the group. Sometimes that meant your own slice of manioc, and sometimes that meant half of a lobster.

Below are photos of some of the typical spreads that we got in Epau and Pele. Because of availability of certain foods and the creativity of the mamas, there was somewhat of a difference in the offerings. In Pele, for example, there was always fresh fish, whereas Epau relied on tin tuna and tin meat. In Epau, Frances's mom made the best manioc balls, but I never saw them once in Pele. 

When it came to the final kakaes in Pele and Epau, the offerings were even more plentiful and special. Eggs were more abundant (they are $0.50 USD each here, which is expensive) and chicken, especially "local fowl" was offered. The locals claim the local chicken is better than what you find in Vila. I'm not sure if I'm enough of a chicken connoisseur to argue one way or the other, but chicken is chicken and it's always delicious to eat. 

See the photos below, and click to enlarge. Explanations of the food follow at the bottom. 

Our first lunch in Epau

Our first lunch in Epau

our final kakae in Epau

a typical lunch in Pele

our final kakae in Pele

our final kakae in Pele

• bananas with coconut milk and green onion: These are bigfala (see below) bananas, boiled and covered in coconut milk and slices of green onion.
• boiled green beans and carrots: in Pele, we got the BEST (and freshest!) veggies.
• bonito fish and cucumber slices: Not sure what the English word is for this fish, but the fresh cucumber slices are delightful.
• canned beans: the Heinz tomato kind. Not the brown sugar and bacon kind, unfortunately.
• chicken soup: typically a stew made of ramen noodles and chicken wings. It can really consist of anything else (vegetables, or just plain broth).
• chicken wings: always boiled.
• coleslaw: made of Chinese cabbage, aka bok choy.
• curry fish: Boiled fish with a very mild curry sauce
• fish salad: like tuna salad, as it’s made with mayonnaise.
• fresh lemonade: They call it “lemon” but it’s really sugar water with lemon juice, aka, American lemonade.
• fried rice: I loved this rice, especially when it was salty. It is simple white rice with soy sauce and often contains slices of green onions.
• fried rice with sausage: That sausage was gooooood. Once my host mom gave me some sausage to take to the kava bar as a chaser. It was a good night.
• grapefruit (aka pamplemousse): Eaten in wedges (you bite in and avoid the pulp) and it comes in red and white.
• hard-boiled eggs: the classic. Eggs here are pricey, so this is a luxury.
• island cabbage (aka aelan kabij): I don’t know what the actual plant is, but they use it all the time, typically boiled. I prefer it stir-fried.
• manioc balls: Frances’ mom made the BEST manioc balls in Epau. The trick was that she used the flavor packet from chicken ramen to spice up these grated manioc and onion balls, fried to golden perfection like a croquette.
• manioc (aka cassava and yucca): It’s a starch, like potato. It’s a bit plain on its own, but I love when it’s fried into chips, like French fries.
• manioc lap lap: I’m actually surprised these photos don’t have more lap lap, as it was ever-present in our training meals. Lap lap is typically made with manioc or banana. I like the latter, but the former is more common, and in my opinion, a bit less flavorful. It’s made by mashing manioc into a paste, then spreading it out on leaves and “baking” it over a fire with hot stones on top. The texture is that of a tough gummy bear.
• omelet: Just your run-of-the mill omelet. Sometimes it had onions. I’d load up on these in Epau to get my protein intake.
• papaya (aka popo): either regular (orange) or red papaya. I rarely eat the latter so I can’t attest to a taste difference. I didn’t eat much papaya back in the states, but it has a much milder flavor than I’d expected, almost like cantaloupe.
• potato: just like the ones in America.
• pule fish: I don’t know what kind of fish this is in English, but it’s a whitefish.
• purple yam with coconut milk: Pretty plain in flavor, much like a white potato.
• ramen soup: ramen is omnipresent here in the villages of Vanuatu.
• sea shell with coconut milk: These are either sea snails or some sort of small shellfish, topped with the usual garnish of coconut milk.
• shredded papaya salad: This is made by shredded papaya and adding a bit of vinegar or lemon juice to make it a little exciting.
• simboro: Made by grating manioc and wrapping it into little eggrolls with island cabbage, then boiled with coconut milk on top. I am not a fan, as the texture is like a hard, almondy gummy bear, which isn’t too appealing to me. These can also be made by grating bananas instead of manioc.
• sliced white bread: Locally baked, typically.
• tuna soup: see “chicken soup” above, but this time, it’s got canned tuna in it.
• white rice: Ever present. Usually it doesn’t have much salt, as salt isn’t as commonly used (even though it is cheap and readily available). It’s great for sopping up the sauces from a “soup.” Sometimes the mamas get fancy and press it into teacups to make little domes so the presentation is nice. 

I helped my host mom in Pele make simboro

2-year-old Ruth wanted to help with the simboro, too

When they served food for celebrations, like our final kakae in Epau, our final kakae in Pele and any numerous celebratory refreshments/snacks, the mamas went all out with the presentation. Slices of lemon, fresh hibiscus flowers and banana leaves adorned the trays, displayed as if ready for a photo shoot. They take pride in their hospitality, and it shows. 

refreshments for our library opening in Pele

refreshments for our library opening in Pele

• banana and flour pancake: Made by mashing up some bananas into a paste, adding flour, and frying to a pancake-like snack.
• cake: If it’s “self rising” it means it really contains very little sugar and is a bit salty. But if it’s a butter cake, vanilla cake, or chocolate cake, then you’re in for some sweet delicious goodness! 
• cookies: British tea biscuits, but also sometimes Oreos. Or Oreo knockoffs (of which Ted does some intense reviewing and comparing on his blog). 
• fried sweet potato: like little French fry discs. I LOVE THESE. 
• peanuts: locally grown in the gardens.

During our last week of training, we went on a scavenger hunt and learned about all the different local foods. Here are some findings from that activity.

• Bananas: there are 3 kinds of bananas. Chinese bananas which are good for eating and what monkeys eat, bigfala bananas which are good for boiling and lap lap, and Vietnamese bananas which are good for boiling and eating fresh.
• Coconuts: Green, or young coconuts, have a softer inside that you can scoop out with a spoon. They are good to eat when you have diarrhea. Dry coconuts (brown) are good for milking, drinking, and eating. The leaves are used to make mats. 
• Fish: Local fish are readily available, but even so, they are valuable. You can use fish to pay your child's school fees. Locals eat the guts of red snapper. You can catch fish with a speargun, a wire, or by throwing a net into the water. 
• Grapefruit (aka pomplemousse): Red grapefruit is good if you have a cold. White grapefruit is typically sweeter. 
• Island cabbage: This contains a lot of iron and is recommended for pregnant women so their baby is born healthy. It's planted year-round.
• Manioc (aka cassava aka yucca): Typically boiled and served with coconut milk on top. It's used to make simboro and laplap, or fried to make chips. 
• Taro: Fiji Taro has a massive leaf that is sometimes used by locals as an umbrella when they're caught in a storm in the garden. You can make simboro with these, or even bunia. They are also eaten by boiling them with coconut milk.

It's a very starch-heavy diet here so far, but I'm excited to see what sorts of fruits I will eat in the other seasons of the year!